Love and the ‘Real Girl’

'Lars' duo chat about unique comedy

At the Variety screening of “Lars and the Real Girl,” director Craig Gillespie and actor Ryan Gosling chatted with folks about their unconventional story that follows the courtship of a man and his latex love.

“John Cameron, who is the producer on this, brought the script to my attention. He called me up and said, ‘Hey, I have a script I want to send you.’ I was thrilled,” said Gillespie. “But then he said it was about a guy and a sex doll. I said, ‘And you thought of me?!’ “

After a four-year battle to get the film made, Gillespie got the pic off the ground. Nabbing Gosling was the easy part.

“The fact that I was crying at the end of the script…I couldn’t believe that this writer (Nancy Oliver) took me to that place,” said Gosling. “It reminded me of some of my favorite films in a way, like ‘Harvey,’ or a Hal Ashby film.”

The “Lars” duo also took time to chat about their synthetic co-worker, Bianca, who made a strong impact on the cast and crew in her debut role.

“I said since the beginning that Bianca is an actress in this movie, so we will treat her that way,” said the director.

“When I first met Craig, I asked him, ‘How you are going to shoot Bianca?’” commented Gosling. “And he said, ‘I’m going to shoot her as though she has a nudity clause in her contract.’ “

“I had no idea how to do it, but then I met her. She has a real presence,” joked Gosling. “She came to the read-through, and I couldn’t stop staring at her. She had a real calming energy.”

“So much of the movie depends on their relationship. For me, the movie I was in was about a guy who meets a girl online,” said Gosling. “That’s a movie I’d like to do anyway, so I tried not to think about the doll aspect.”

Although a pic about a man finding true love with a 125 lb. Barbie is not a classic theme, the director found that auds can still relate to the story.

“In the first focus group, there was one guy who was really annoyed and he said, ‘I don’t get it. Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? What is it?’ And a guy at the other end yelled, ‘It’s called life.’ “